U.S., Pakistan capture top Taliban commander

U.S. officials praised Pakistan intelligence Tuesday for their cooperation in the war being fought on both sides of the Afghan border after one of the Taliban's top military commanders was captured in Pakistan on Tuesday. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>>now.

>>>good evening. we begin tonight with news that could mean a major advance. the
taliban
's top
military commander
has been captured. it was a secret raid, a joint operation carried out by pakistani and american intelligence forces. it happened in
karachi
in afghanistan. the number two ranked man under the
taliban
founder and associate of the still-at-large
osama bin laden
. this news comes as
american forces
are grinding forward with a big new offensive. we begin our reporting tonight with you are chief foreign correspondent
richard engel
.

>>reporter: it's easy to hide in the streets of
karachi
, home to 18 million. the
taliban
's
military commander
mulla baradar was living openly here, apparently feeling immune to capture. that ended last week in a rare joint cia/pakistani operation. there are no known photographs of baradar, but he directed the
war in afghanistan
. today u.s. nato troops met on the fourth day of offensive. baradar could provide valuable intelligence.

>>mulla baradar would provide very valuable information about the scores of other people who work for the
taliban movement
.

>>reporter: u.s. and
pakistani intelligence
have cooperated before, together arresting 9/11 plotters.
pakistan
has been accused of sheltering the top
taliban
leaders, offering up just middle men.

>>the fact they've taken out mullah baradar, so they are going for the real guys rather than the little guys.

>>reporter: but baradar is unlikely to know the whereabouts of
osama bin laden
. former
pakistan
intelligence colonel imman trained baradar with thousands of other fighters in the
1980s
. he says the arrest will not defeat the
taliban
.

>>reporter: analysts say the operation in
karachi
deals a psychological blow to the
taliban
, showing no one is immune to arrest, even in
pakistan
. the arrest is not, however, expected to have an immediate impact on american troops fighting in afghanistan. today, a
u.s. marine
was killed by roadside bomb. brian?